First, before I begin my review, I just wanted to say hi to all my girls here on sugar and to give everyone a little update about the latest with me! As I have in my chatter, I’m missing my sugar and my sugar girls since starting a new job this past Monday. I’m working at a major cosmetics company doing marketing in the online/e-commerce department. The environment so far feels pretty fast paced, but in what surprisingly seems like a supportive environment. Me being the skeptic that I am (and I think at this point it’s warranted) I’ve gone to work this entire week thinking, wow, is this real! lol I have some really amazing perks, but more than anything I just really hope this will be a good job for me – so far it seems to be. Doing online marketing in the cosmetics and skin care world was sooooo exciting this week, but it was filled with training related meetings. I felt so overwhelmed and was so exhausted by the end of each day. There’s another new girl who started on Wednesday of this week. She seems so sweet and it was nice to have someone else going through a similar adjustment like myself. So, it’s going to take some getting used to with the new schedule, and lifestyle, but hopefully I’ll be up to speed soon enough and I’ll be able to figure how to best fit in preparing dinner and going to the gym/working out. Ah, all the balancing but all in due time. Thanks girls for the guest book messages, I’m glad I won’t be forgotten. I’ll just have to check in here on weekends and in the evening more often, that’s all!

Okay, so now to the concert I went to last night. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, you should all check out Ingrid Michaelson. I was introduced to her through the great recommendation of loveny21. After a few listens, I was hooked and downloaded many of her songs on my ipod. I found about a month ago that she was coming to the NYC area performing at the Knitting Factory at $15 a pop! Wow, that’s rare huh? My boyfriend said he’d come but I knew he was a bit skeptical about whether or not he’d like the artist. He usually needs to listen to a musician a lot of times before he takes to them, but I had faith seeing her live would change his mind. After a long first week at my new job, I had almost forgotten about going to the concert! I had an ounce (only an ounce) of fear that my boyfriend might not like her, and I just wanted something to help me relax after a week that was both exciting and draining.

I’ve never been in the Knitting Factory before, but it’s a small venue standing room only. AND loveny21 would be happy to know that, this little place was completely SOLD OUT! The stage was slightly raised, so it was nice that everyone in the room had a decent view of the stage. Ingrid first came on without her band, with a small ukulele in hand. She was so cute and quirky and had a nice sense of dark humor to share in between songs. She talked about the last time she was at the Knitting Factory and how she played in the basement, performing only for her parents. And now she was on the main stage, with a sold out audience. She seemed like she couldn’t believe so many people showed up, and said something like, you all came out to see me? I don’t remember the name of the first song she sang, and the second song her band comes out, and they sing ‘Die Alone.’ LOVE IT! I really liked how the drums and guitars didn’t drown out Ingrid’s voice but really allowed her to feature it. Despite everyone standing snugly in this room, it still felt so intimate. Ingrid also had a great backup singer, whose voice complimented Ingrid’s very well. Lyrically her songs are so strong and you could feel the vulnerability that both Ingird and her backup singer were expressing. Of course Ingrid sang ‘The Old Navy’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ song, and she even joked about that on stage! She also sang other one of my favorites, which apparently is a hidden track on the CD, ‘Far Away.’ In all she sang about a good 7-8 songs before leaving the stage, and then coming back on to sing an encore. Tae (my boyfriend) was so impressed that she sang, Elvis’ ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love.’ She did an amazing rendition of it, and she ended the concert on a high note.

The overall theme for the night was that Ingrid was funny, down to earth, and can really sing. She somehow finds an amazing way to balance the power of her voice with subtly, and gentle tones. What I love about singers like her is the intimacy that they give to the audience through their vulnerability and also their humor. Many of her songs have an optimism about life and the challenges we face, which is often very rare in music these days. Seeing her just made me feel so great, I had so much fun, and it ended my long but eventful week…just right! Please check out Ingrid ‘s myspace page if you haven’t already and listen to some of her tunes! Happy Listening!

http://www.myspace.com/ingridmichaelson

And check out her new music video to 'Take Me the Way I Am':
http://www.vh1.com/video/play.jhtml?artist=2416449&vid=187616

*Also it looks like I lost a few comments when I had to reupload my post - sorry girls.